CPS plans to relocate two schools

November 27, 2013|By Noreen S. Ahmed-Ullah | Tribune reporter

(Tribune illustration)

Chicago Public Schools officials say they won’t be closing any schools this summer, but plan to relocate two schools.

Under a 2011 state law, CPS must announce any planned school closings or relocations by Dec. 1. The proposals still need to be voted on by the Board of Education after public hearings are held in January.

The district is proposing moving Frazier Preparatory Academy, a K-8 charter school at 4027 W. Grenshaw St., to a shared space with Herzl Elementary at 3711 W. Douglas Blvd. That will allow Frazier International Magnet Elementary School, a high-standing magnet school that now shares space with Frazier Prep, to enroll more students, the district said.

Urban Prep Academies’ Bronzeville campus would move from 2710 S. Dearborn St., where it currently shares space with Drake Elementary, to the Doolittle West building at 521 E. 35th St.

The Doolittle West building is expected to become available when Chicago High School for the Arts leaves at the end of the school year.

CPS is planning a new home for the privately run arts school, and is considering among other options Lafayette Elementary, a school in Humboldt Park that was one of 49 elementary schools the district voted to close earlier this year.

“These proposals will allow CPS over time to double the size of Frazier (International Magnet), one of the City’s top elementary schools, while providing a more equitable distribution of space for other schools that will better support student learning,” said schools CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett.